Barking Up the Wrong Tree: You did WHAT?!!?

20 March 2012

You did WHAT?!!?

Today's post isn't about a specific tree but about the people
who create the messed up trees I usually post about on Tuesdays.
People with no understanding of how to research but
a burning desire to be connected to someone important.
Hope reading these doesn't give you a migraine.
I debated correcting spelling, grammar, etc. but thought
I should keep the posts as I found them for the full effect.
Each of these quotes is real.
They were found on various Facebook fan pages.
Names have been withheld to protect the clueless.

What's the craziest claim you've ever heard?

Quotes are after the jump. My comments are in red.

ⓑⓐⓡⓚⓘⓝⓖ ⓤⓟ ⓣⓗⓔ ⓦⓡⓞⓝⓖ ⓣⓡⓔⓔ

✿ If You Are A Descendant Of Charlegmane Then "Like" This Post !
✿ If you can prove you're a descendant of Charlemagne AND spell his name correctly then "like" this post.

✿ I have over a Quarter Million Individuals in a Tree...over 200,000 documents
✿ Averaging less than one record per person? Yeah, that tree is reliable.

✿ Ok guys I accidentally deleted my dads side and I got really far like 588 a.d. And it's all gone!!!:0 is there any to restore it or something like that??
✿ The universe is trying to tell you something dude.

✿ I joined the most expensive Ancestry site, Ancestry International, and found that I am descended from William the Conquerer of England, and thus also a descendant of Henry1,and Emperor Charlemagne!Andz all of the Royal families of Europe past and present are related to me:);)
✿ I paid a lot of money so it must be true.

✿ Ancestry.com is the greatest. My tree has 369 people, 246 photos, 215 records and 40 stories. I was able to trace my family history all the way back to the forth son of Noah.
✿ Let's see... If you were born in 1950 and have only your direct line back to the year 1590 there would be over 4000 people on your tree. And you got back to Old Testament times with 369 people? Ummm, no.

✿ It is a great piece of sotware I have used it exstensively and I have traced my ancestry back 72 generations. Go buy it you will never regret it.
✿ 72 generations? 38 generations would be almost 1.1 TRILLION people. Now we know who to blame when Ancestry.com gets slow.

✿ I was able to trace my family back 3000 Years back to Egypt !! It took four years and it was worth every minute!!

✿ I actually found someone researching my "Fleming" tree. I linked from My Grandsons to Adam & Eve!!! I found My Missing links!!! Joseph of Arimathea asked Pontius Pilate permission to take Jesus' Body off of the Cross... Permission granted... Joseph is My 70th Grandprent...

✿ Thanks to Ancestry.com, I just found out that William Barker, my 12th great grandfather, knew Pocahontas and that his sister (my 12th great aunt) was the in-law of William Shakespeare's daughter Judith. So I'm officially realted to Shakespeare by marriage. TOTALLY SPAZZING OUT RIGHT NOW. :D

✿ Hello cousins! I am a 41st. Great-Grandson of Emperor Charlemagne, William the Conqueror; John and Priscilla "Mullins" Alden,Francis EATON,Thankful "Alden"Eaton,Degory Priest;Richard Jackson,and 2nd cousin ofAndrew Jackson;and "Stonewall"Jackson,GRANDSON of John &Elizabeth "Cummins"Jackson,and Josephine "Eaton"Jackson. Cousin to 35 U.S. Presidents,Movie stars,Inventors, Robert E. Lee; James/Youngers/Woodsons Westfalls;Loves, William Butler Hickock,and many of you folks. Would enjoy hearing from anyone related to these people. Thank you.

✿ Here's someone who is proud of a tree that goes back to Caesar through Henry I, William the Conqueror, Alfred the Great, Charles II, Charlemagne,... You get the idea and never mind the gaping holes.
A Lineage to Caesar
Thanks to Rene for the link!

All hope is not lost though. The person who posted this...

✿ This is awesome, ancestry has been a blessing to me! In just a few months I have been taken on this incredable journey into my past. Just the other day I traced my roots all the way into BC and just about fell out of my chair when I found my link to Adam & Eve!!! I know this sounds unreal but it's true & remarkable, I'm still in shock!! All I have to say is Ancestry ROCKS!!!

Later posted this...

✿ I must apologize for my claim, I should of looked into it more before I said anything. Descent from Adam & Eve is speculative & there are gaps. I based my findings on the ancestry hints given. Royal families do claim to descend from the Jews but it is not proven. I feel like a fool now.

PREVIOUS POST: It's a Family Affair
NEXT POST: A Must Read Book for 'Newbies'
RELATED POST: You Did WHAT?!!? - The Sequel

7 comments:

ldave45Tuesday, 20 March, 2012
I'm LDS and teach genealogy to other LDS members. The Joseph of Arimathea and back to Adam and Eve types, and trees, are very common among older LDS "genealogists"; getting back to Adam and Eve was a goal and a great source of pride. They did this anyway they could, including just making things up. It existed long before Ancestry and long before New Family Search. Many of these trees got entered into PAF, offered as a free download by FS and when New Family Search was established thousands of well meaning LDS grandma genealogists flocked to sign up then uploaded these trees with thousands of people including Old Testament prophets ,the virgin Mary, and on back to Adam and Eve. My DIL's grandma Zelda got me started doing Family History, had "all her lines back to Adam and Eve"; she has actually never used New Family Search but was highly offended when they started to block the uploading of GEDCOM files with over 10,000 people and/ or including any Biblical characters. Then FS virtually insisted that if we entered a person or line we HAD to merge if any version of that person had already been entered or uploaded but only the original submitter could correct the entry. Sorry, but I didn't do it. Now,,,,,they are trying to undo this mess which had multiple opponents from day one of site development. So vanity trees can be different things to different people for different reasons and they long predated Ancestry or indiscriminate tree merging.
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AnonymousTuesday, 03 April, 2012
This is quite interesting how people take for granted they are descended from Royalty or whomever. I have found so many mistakes as I have been working on my tree and correct them when I find them. I do not want to be the cause of someone else making a mistake. And I have found mistakes not only in ancestry but also in FS and I know alot of that is caused by those who index , as I have found some of the index's very hard to read. But I still am enjoying my journey back through time
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LianneMonday, 09 April, 2012
Haha, these are too funny! Though, in their defense: For the one who has 369 people going back to Noah, that could be enough people if only one single line was traced, in other words, only one ancestor for each generation. And 38 generations wouldn't actually have trillions of people, because of pedigree collapse. :D That being said, these claims are hilarious.

Lianne
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Michael F HarrisWednesday, 19 November, 2014
I was too busy trying to find my grandfather to look for Adan and Eve connections.
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UnknownThursday, 20 November, 2014
I honestly laughed out loud at this. This is my new favorite blog. Love it!
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BANKIEFriday, 01 April, 2016
I've met a few people like that at the LDS FHC where I volunteer once a week.
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Blog Reviews

Barking has been "deemed offensive to [Ancestry.com's] brand" and is banned from their Facebook pages. In Ancestry's "Community" comments with links to Barking are censored.
Dear Emma, Hannah, Jemima, Mary Jane, and all of her other personalities agree that I use "the banner of 'education' to actually mock, deride and laugh at [Ancestry's] own customers" and I "can make [my] point concerning tree inaccuracies & cock-ups and their effect on our 'hints' system without being downright unpleasant and sarcastic about it."
Allen says, “your cute little blog is a waste of bandwidth at best”
Ann thinks I'm "...copying and pasting mistakes on trees and calling it a blog" and that my readers are "mean-spirited people...who like to have a laugh at the expense of others."
Sue was really offended by the “...continual stream of sarcasm and constant poking fun...What a nasty taste in my mouth your blog left me with. Unpleasant, sarcastic and jeering at people who you obviously see as your intellectual inferiors. Won't be reading that again.”
And finally from Les, "You truly are a horrible woman, pointing out mistakes is one thing but blatantly laughing and taking the p is completely out of order."

Why?

Researching our family histories we are bound to make mistakes. Hopefully we are quick to correct them. Unfortunately some people refuse to read or think before adding information to their family trees. Some trees have been abandoned so the errors are there for eternity. Here we will laugh, mock and shake our heads at the carelessness, stupidity and/or ignorance of those errors.
All examples are taken from trees published online.
I'll also post tips occasionally, though the messed up trees are a great example of what NOT to do.
If you have an online tree to suggest for a future post please send me a link: buwtree(at)gmail(dot)com

The Fine Print

1. Copyright: Barking Up the Wrong Tree is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License and is owned and administered by Loretta Gillespie.

2. Content: Barking Up the Wrong Tree is responsible for the content of this site, not including visitor comments. Barking Up the Wrong Tree reflects the personal views and opinions of Loretta Gillespie.

3. Credit: Credit is not given to tree owners to protect the clueless. A tree owner who discovers their tree on this site should correct their mistakes so no one else realizes they were once a clickophile.

4. Accuracy and Validity: While there are helpful pointers on Barking Up the Wrong Tree a majority of posts are intended to be humorous. The disastrous trees are copied exactly as they appear on Ancestry.com. These trees are being used to show others what NOT to do.

5. Images: Attempts are made to source images used despite the fact that the trees they are taken from do not include source information.

6. Comments: Barking Up the Wrong Tree will exercise its right to delete comments which are deemed to be spam, offensive, childish or just plain stupid.

7. Liability: The content at Barking Up the Wrong Tree is not to be taken as fact nor absolute. Barking Up the Wrong Tree contains posts that are humorous and posts that are research tips. Barking Up the Wrong Tree is not responsible for anyone who cannot tell the difference between the two. The sites that Barking Up the Wrong Tree links to via hyperlinks are not under its control. Those sites are responsible for the content of those sites. If you do not find the humor on Barking Up the Wrong Tree to your taste then stop reading. If you choose instead to send an email to the owner it may be published on Barking Up the Wrong Tree and mocked publicly.

Thanks to Thomas MacEntee for allowing the use of the GeneaBloggers terms as a template.